Warrant's Jani Lane Found Dead in Woodland Hills Hotel Room

Hair metal died along with the iconic singer.

Jani Lane, the former lead
singer of seminal Los Angeles metal rock band Warrant, was found dead in a
Woodland Hills, CA hotel at approximately 5:30 pm on Thursday. Lane, born John Oswald, was 47. His body was found in a Comfort Inn in the 20100 block of Ventura Boulevard in an area
known both for its high level of crime and addiction. "He was discovered
unresponsive," said Coroner's Deputy Chief Ed Winter. He was pronounced
dead at the scene by fire department paramedics.

The cause and circumstances
of this hair band icon’s lamentable death are not yet known, but Lane had
suffered from addiction issues for most of his life in the spotlight.

His passing
signals the death knell for the end of Los Angeles' glory years as the capital
of rock excess and debauchery in the mid-1980s, when Warrant, along with Guns
‘N Roses, held sway on the Sunset Strip circuit of clubs. Even Prince was a fan,
and tried to sign the band to his Paisley Park label. The band ultimately signed
a deal with Columbia, releasing their first album Dirty Rotten, Filthy
Stinking Rich in 1989, where it spent 65 weeks on the Billboard 200. Their 1990 follow-up Cherry Pie fared even better, with both the discs selling over two
million copies each.

Lane, with his glorious mane of bleached-blond hair, tattoos,
and tight pants was a fixture at Los Angeles’ Rainbow Club, where he always held
court with a bevy of beautiful women at his side, until he married a leggy
blonde model named Bobbi Brown who appeared in the band’s video for their
iconic hit “Cherry Pie.” The couple had a daughter together, but later divorced.

Despite his personal problems, Warrant rode a massive wave
of success and adoration throughout the early 1990s until the advent of grunge.
Lane famously said that when he heard Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” he
felt “impending doom.” And he was right. For the rest of the '90s Seattle’s
third most famous import replaced rock on the charts, the baleful lament of
Vedder, Cobain, and Cornell taking over metal’s brief hegemony.

Lane left Warrant in 1993, reuniting occasionally with the
band over the years for shows. The last time he played with the band was in
2004. More recently, in 2005, the singer was a contestant on VH1’s Celebrity
Fit Club, winning over a whole new generation of fans.

“We are deeply saddened to hear the news of Jani’s passing,”
Warrant said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.
Jani was a very important part of our lives for a long time. We will always be incredibly
proud of the music we created together. He was a true talent and will be missed
by all of us."

The band plans to pay tribute to their fallen member during
their show in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Jaan Uhelszki was one of the founding editors at Detroit’s legendary Creem magazine. Since that time, her work has appeared in USA Today, Uncut, Rolling Stone, Spin, NME, Relix, and Guitar World. She is the only journalist to have ever performed in full makeup with Kiss. Luckily she only had to put…